Jazz piano attachment



Sept. 15, 1925.

. 1 s. PACORA JAZZ PIANO ATTACHMENT Filed April 16, 1923 Jae/H Patented Sept. 15, 1925.

UNITED STATES SALOMON PACORA,

OF NEW YORK, .N. .Y.

JAZZ PIANO ATTACHMENT.

Application filed Apri1'16, 1923. 'Serial'No. 632,214.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SALOMON PACORA, a citizen of Peru, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,

have invented certain new and useful 1mprovements in Jazz Piano Attachments, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to an attachment for pianos intended more particularly for playing jazz music, the invention having'for an object the provision of a xylophone attachment which can be readily attached to or removed from the piano and which may be played either by striking the piano keys or in the usual manner by means of hammers.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, and to the appended claims in which the va rious novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

Fig. 1 of the drawing is a perspective view of an upright piano having my improved jazz attachment applied thereto.

Fig. 2-is a side elevation, showing certain parts in-transverse section.

Fig. 3 is'a fragmentary face view.

"Fig. 1 is a fragmentary transverse section on a larger scale.

Fig. 5 is-a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

As here embodied my improved Xylophone attachment comprises an open faced box of relatively small depth from front to rear and which is divided by a longitudinal partition or sounding board 12 into a rear compartment, and an open faced front compartment, this latter containing the jars 13 which are filled in varying degrees with water. The box 10 is adapted to rest on the usual shelf, indicated at 14:, at the front of the piano, and may be held against displacement by a strap 15 attached to the top thereof and passed up over the top of the piano to be secured to any suitable projection on the back of the piano.

For striking the jars 13 I provide the hammer heads. 18 fixed on the laterally turned upper ends of the arms 19 which are pivoted at their lower ends on a shaft 20 supported at opposite ends by lugs 21 formed on the ends of a bracket element 22 extending along the bottom of the box 10. These arms are held against longitudinal movement on the shaft 20 by means of spacer collars 23 fixed on the latter.

To operate the hammer 18 when the corresponding keys on the piano are struck I form on each arm 19 a downwardly extendingtail piece 25 which projects in front of a finger 26 projecting rigidly up from a memberadaptedto be secured to the key of the piano. This member as here shown comprises a rigid metal strap 27 of about half the length of the key and on which the finger 26 is formed, and a resilient extension 28 from said strap which extends over the forward'ha-lf of the key and has a spring hook 29 or clip adapted to engage under the lip on the forward end of the key, while the strap 27 has a downturned element 30 on its opposed end adapted to engage behind the ivory facing strip on the key these members 29 and 30 forming claws adapted to grip the keys. For securing the operating elements to the sharp and flat keys I may provide spring clips 31 on the sides of the parts 27, '28 and which engage in recesses cut in the sides of said keys. 1

Incase it is desired to use the usual strikers I have arranged the arms 19 in such a manner that the-y can be swung downward to leave the face of the box unobstructed. T'othis end I make the abutment elements which limit the backward movement of the .heads 18 in the form of pins 35 which are fixed on the shaft 20 and project into short arcuate slots 36 in the hubs 19 of the arms 19, while the shaft 20 is adapted for longitudinal adjustment to cause the tail-pieces 25 to move from in front of the fingers 26, and for rotary adjustment to swing the arms 19 downward. To this end the shaft has a feather connection at one end as at 40 with the hub element 41 of an arm 12 this hub ele ment being in the form of a bushing rotatively engaged in the adjacent lug 21 and through which the shaft passes. The extreme end of the shaft is screw threaded and is engaged by nut 43 having a swivel engagement with the bushing element- 41. Extending through a suitable transverse opening in the arm 42 is a screw 1 1- which may be inserted into either of a pair of openings 45 in the bracket lug 21. When the automatic strikers are in use the arm 42 occupies the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2, but if the latter are to be swung out of the way the nut 13 is turned, and then the screw 44 released and the arm 42 swung to a position with the screw registering with the other opening 45 in the lug 21 as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is as follows:

1. A device of the class described comprising an open faced box, a number of jars supported therein, strikers for the different jars, arms on which said strikers are pivoted, and elements adapted for removable attachment to the keys of a piano for operating said arms, said elements adapted comprising straps formed with claws adapted to grip the keys, tail pieces on said arms, and rigid fingers on said straps projecting behind said tail pieces.

2. A device of the class described comprising an open faced box, a number of jars supported therein, strikers for the different jars, arms on which said strikers are pivoted, and elements adapted for removable attachment to the keys of a piano for operating said arms, said elements adapted comprising straps formed with claws adapted to grip the keys, tail pieces on said arms, and rigid fingers on said straps projecting behind said tail pieces, said straps being each made up of a. rear rigid section and a front resilent section provided with means for gripping the opposite ends of the keys.

3. A device of the class described comprising an open faced box, a number of jars supported therein, strikers for the different jars and means whereby the said strikers may be operated by the keys of a. piano, a rotary member on which said strikers are mounted, and means for adjusting said member to swing said striker away from position in front of the said jars.

4. A device of the class described comprismg an open faced box, a number of ars supported therein, strikers for the differentjars and means whereby the said strikers may be operated by the keys of a piano, a rotary member on which said strikers are mounted, and means for adjusting said mem ber to swing said striker away from position in front of the said jars, said rotary member comprising a shaft on which said strikers have limited swinging movement.

5. A device of the class described comprising an open faced box, a number of jars supported therein, strikers for the different jars comprising pivoted arms formed with tailpieces, fingers fixed to said keys and normally projecting behind said tail-pieces, a rotary member on which said strikers are mounted, and means for adjusting said member to swing said striker away from position in front of the said jars, said rotary member comprising a shaft on which said strikers have limited swinging movement, and means for moving said shaft longitudinally to cause the tail pieces to clear the said fingers.

6. A device of the class described comprising an open faced box, a number of jars supported therein, strikers for the different jars comprising pivoted arms formed with tailpieces, fingers fixed to said keys and normally projecting behind said tail-pieces, a rotary member on which said strikers are mounted, and means for adjusting said member to swing said striker away from position in front of the said jars, said rotary member comprising a shaft on which said strikers have limited swinging movement, an arm fixed to said shaft for imparting rotary movement thereto, locking means applied to said arm, and means for moving said shaft longitudinally, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

SALOMON PACORA, 

